Improvement in railroad-rail chairs



E. 'RUANE. RAILROAD BAIL-CHAIR.

No. 173,180. Patented Feb. 8, 187 6.

UNITED; STATES EDWARD RUANE, 0F RUTLAND, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS 1 E T OFFrGE.

RIGHT TO JOHN N. BAXTER, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-RAIL CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 173,180, dated February 8, 1876; application filed 9 January 17, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD 'RUANE, of

Rutland, in the county of Rutland and State reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in Which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of my improved rail-chair applied under the joint of two sections of a rail. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the chair with one section of a rail seated in it. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the rail and chair in the line a: w, Fig.1. Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the rail and of a slightly-modified form of chair in the line y y of Fig. 1.

My invention relates to a rail-chair for the joints of railroad-rails; and the nature of the same consists, first, in two flanged plates of a form corresponding, respectively, to the sides of the rails, and hinged together by one oftheir ends beneath the rail, so as to open and close horizontally; second, in the combination, with these plates or jaws thus hinged together, of a base-plate, and vertical spikes, and a horizontal bolt which passes under the rail.

By this construction the meetingends of two rails can be placed with their ends to-. gether upon the base-plate and hingedends of the side plates, and then the free ends of the side plates can be swung in horizontally against the sides of the rail just above the base-plate, and tied together by a horizontal bolt passed beneath the rail from side to side Without perforating the rail, and fastened firm- 1y to the ties by vertical spikes; and in case it is desired to take up the rail-sections the plates of the chair can be spread apart laterally by simply withdrawing the single horizontal bolt and vertical spikes, and the rail removed without disturbing the chair.

To enable others ,skilled in the art tomake and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with referencesto the drawings.

A A represent the sections of a railroadrail; B B, the side jaws or plates of the chair; 0 0, horizontal, or nearly so, hinging flanges, formed on these plates at one of their ends; and D D, vertical flanges or lugs, formed on these plates at their other ends. E is a baseplate, which rests on the railroad-tie G, and

underneath the joint between the ends of the rail-sections, This plate is broad enough to extend beyond the railand jaws or plates, as

shown in Figs. 2 and 4:. H is a pivot for fast is cut on its point, on which a nut is screwed.

J J .are vertical spikes with hooking-heads. These spikes are passed down through notches in the base of the plates B B, and through holes in the plate E, and their heads are made to overhang a portion of the base of the plates B B, and also of the rail.

' The chair jaws or plates B B are to be made of wrought or other suitable metal, and of a thickness suflicient to sustain the weight brought to bear upon the rail. Their form may be either as shown in the sectional drawing Fig. 3,'or Fig. 4, as circumstances require.

My chair dispenses with a second tie-bolt at the end where the hinge is constructed, and avoids the inconvenience which would arise from withdrawingthis bolt, and from handling the different parts of the chair in the operationof applying the chair to the joint of the rail, and removing the same therefI'Ofll'.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The jaws B B, hinged together beneath the rail at one of their ends, so as to open and close horizontally, substantially as and for the plication for patent for improvement in chairs purpose described. for railroad-rails this 14th day of January, A. 2. The combination of the jaws, hinged to- D. 1876.

gether beneath the rail at one end and tied together by a bolt at the other end passed EDWVABD RUANE' under the rail, with the base-plate and ver- Witnesses:

tical spikes, substantially as described. G. R. BOTTUM,

Witness my hand in the matter of my ap- HORACE BAXTER. 

